


Here Be Monsters

by thewhiterose3



Series: Exceptions [1]
Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-12
Updated: 2011-12-15
Packaged: 2017-10-27 05:57:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/292371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewhiterose3/pseuds/thewhiterose3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And Aunt Marie is probably rolling over in her grave right now, but when he read through the blutbad book he didn’t picture crime scene photos or even watered down fairytales, he pictured Eddie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Spoilers for 1.6 The Three Bad Wolves.

The thing about reading through the Grimm files was that it was obviously written from a certain perspective. And that perspective was here be monsters. Here be horrors previously unknown that it is our lineage to protect the world from. A clear line between them, with the unending potential for inhumanity, and us, those that protect the rest of the oblivious, fragile masses.

And from the very beginning that just never sat well with Nick. Looking back, he knows that Aunt Marie believed it, lived it. Probably picked her battles, but only because she knew her own strength, knew the strength of just one compared to so very many, and not because she actually thought the world was a better place with some of them in it. And he trusted Marie, trusted her with his life, but he just can’t find it in him to agree with that mindset. It could be that Eddie was one of the first _them_ that he met. The first one that he actually spoke to for more than a minute or two and realized it. And Monroe didn’t try to kill him or even really hold a grudge for Nick’s Grimm-sight freak out and accusing him of kidnapping. True, he tackled him through a window after Nick may or may not have blatantly trespassed on his property, but then he offered him a beer. And advice. And Nick found himself coming back, again and again. For more advice. And companionship. And just so he wouldn’t have to go it alone in this crazy, intense, huge new world he found himself in.

But no, that’s not it. Even before seeking out Eddie became a habit, when Marie was still alive and he was pouring through the books trying to find some semblance of order, cohesion, something, even then it didn’t sit well with him. First and foremost, before any of this ancestry business started shooting off freakish neurons making him see what’s underneath seemingly ordinary people, he’s a cop. And one thing you learn, or should learn, from going through the academy and having partners and especially investigating homicides is that everything is about choice. What you are born into, whether its race or religion or money or location and now he’s adding _other_ to the list, it doesn’t matter. You can overcome it, you can choose. There is no entirety of any group that is one way or another.

And Aunt Marie is probably rolling over in her grave right now, but when he read through the blutbad book he didn’t picture crime scene photos or even watered down fairytales, he pictured Eddie. He pictured Eddie sitting in his house playing the cello, doing pilates, glasses perched atop his nose and working on the delicate inner workings of his clocks. He pictured Eddie choosing to live this quiet life when he could be out doing all those things that his hindbrain remembers either from his personal past or that of his ancestors. But he wasn’t, isn’t. Eddie chooses to take control.

So every time the book said blutbaden do this, blutbaden are that, blutbaden see red and this horrible unstoppable beast takes over, all Nick could thing was no, not all of them. I know one that doesn’t, mine fights those instincts, chooses not to. And then Nick went to his house looking for Angelina. He barged in, searched, demanded knowledge just like he always does. But this time, Eddie did not budge. Because he couldn’t. He let the anguish flare for just a moment, and Nick could see exactly how easy it would be for Eddie to fall off the bandwagon, to let a feud that ran in his blood for centuries take over, to let the very real pain of his friend’s murder, a need to help ebb the grief of his former love. To let it all loose, to let himself loose. But he wasn’t. He wasn’t out there calling for revenge, like Nick probably would have been, if he was being honest. Maybe not the murder kind, but revenge nonetheless. He was tamping it all down. Staying in control because that is the life that he chose. The life he chooses everyday.

And so that’s what he thinks of every time he reads through the family tomes on the _others_. And that’s why he always goes to Monroe, to Eddie. That’s why he doesn’t take the words of his ancestors as the whole truth, the only truth. Because if that’s the rule, than Eddie is the exception. Maybe to all the rules. Because Marie told him to trust his instincts and every instinct, cop or gut or Grimm, that Nick’s ever had tells him to trust Eddie. And so he does.  


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aunt Marie must have gotten her idea of what a cop's job entails from the movies because everything the Academy taught Nick about being a cop irreparably clashes with everything the Grimm books keep telling him.

Marie had said "There's a reason you're a cop," like it fell in line with the Grimm life, like being a cop would make the rest of this easier. After a few weeks of being a Grimm, Nick wants to call bullshit. Aunt Marie must have gotten her idea of what a cop's job entails from the movies because everything the Academy taught Nick about being a cop irreparably clashes with everything the Grimm books keep telling him.

First and foremost, innocent until proven guilty. Cops read people and body language and talk to people and parse out the truth from the deception. They take a puzzle with only a few of the pieces and try their damnedest to search out the rest, put it back together again, find the truth. And then, once the truth is found, justice is dolled out. The whole point of being a cop is to right the wrongs. And being born one way, one race, one creed, one _species_ instead of another is not a goddamn wrong.

Its like the Grimm books want him to be an assassin. Yeah, Nick can use his service weapon, has been trained in basic hand to hand to minimize damage to himself, subdue a suspect, etc. But Nick's never been trained to, never wanted to kill people. Stop from causing undue harm yes, kill no. Murder on sight, in cold blood? Never. Those are the people he brings to justice. It is a perversion of everything he is to become one of those people himself.

And sometimes he reads the books, reads of decapitations and burnings and annihilation. Things not that the _others_ did, but his ancestors. Reads reasonings of because he was this because she was that. Like being born with the urge to do something, the susceptibility makes one guilty. Nick knows deep down, can so easily picture Aunt Marie killing Eddie and just... wants to vomit. His stomach turns and head whirls and he just simply cannot understand a mindset where it is right for one person to be judge, jury, and executioner all rolled into one. Because that's what the books want him to be.

Second, Nick isn't sure he'll ever get used to the _others_ seeing him and instantly being terrified. Seeing him, and instantly attacking or fleeing. When you're a cop, if people run from you, then they're probably guilty of something. Whether its being so poor as to be squatting in and abandoned house or having a warrant out of your arrest or just a rap sheet a mile and a half long or having seen something they shouldn't have... or actually being the perp. Either way, they've always either broken at least some sort of law, even if its just one of the lesser ones, or they know something about someone breaking a law. If they run, they're involved in the breaking of the law in some way, shape, or form. The point is that people don't usually look at Nick like they're afraid that he's going to shoot them on sight just for the crime of existing.

Like the guy who worked on the refrigerator, saw him, then first mumbled an apology, an assurance of lack of guilt and immediately ran away. First, Nick couldn't help but smile a bit, feel pumped up, that egotistical power trip of damn right, I'm terrifying. But in retrospect, Nick just feels disgusted, both with himself and with everything his ancestors must have done to create such a name for themselves.

And it makes his job, his real job as a cop, a lot harder, too. When certain suspects flee him on sight. And the cop in him assigns guilt, assumes connection only to find out they are anything but. And then when the victim is an _other_ , just… shit. Nick is not looking forward to the day that he can very easily see coming where he has to let Hank handle some terrified, already abused victim who will be set off by the mere presence of a Grimm.

Third, from what Nick can tell, active Grimms are usually loners. Whether by choice, or lack of communication, or just danger, it seems that almost all active Grimms end up working alone. There are no instructions for tag teaming _others_ , even those that come in hordes or packs have suggestions for long distance weapons or splitting them up, coming from the side, guerilla warfare, no ally in sight. And Nick’s just never been like that. Its true that Marie taught him to be self sufficient, perfectly capable of taking care of himself, but Nick’s always liked having people around. You don’t become a cop because you want to avoid people. You’re in for a pretty nasty surprise, if you do.

His childhood was rather lonely, sure. He and Marie didn’t exactly equal a loud, boisterous, overflowing household. But then he went to college, had a roommate, shared space and bathrooms, and it wasn’t a hardship. And then there was the Academy and Juliette. And Nick’s just not used to being alone anymore. Even on the job, there’s always back up to call, Hank by his side. Cops aren’t trained to go it alone. So when Eddie tackles him, then invites him inside for a beer, Nick just goes with it. After spending more than five minutes with the guy, Nick’s gut is already burning with guilt for even imagining that he could kidnap a little girl. This is a good guy. He’s talking to Nick, listening to him. He knows how easy it would have been to be taken advantage of. If he had accused (tackled, stalked, trespassed) any other blutbad but this one, there is a strong chance Nick wouldn’t have made it past his first Grimm case (day, week).

But he did, he did meet Monroe first. And Nick’s gut immediately found something akin to friendship, something worthy of trust. This was someone who could help him through the rough parts, supply the much needed back up. And so here he is, breaking all the rules. Barely a month into this Grimm business that is supposedly his destiny and already scrapping the playbook, making it all up as he goes along. Because just like Monroe, he is an exception to the Grimm rule, it seems, maybe to all the rules.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this series has taken root in my soul. My soul, I tell you. And this may just be a one shot or I may end up writing down more of the fic that writes itself in my head when I watch this ridiculous fabulous show. Also, this is totally pre-slash in my head, but take it as you will.
> 
> Un-beta'd. All mistakes are mine. Both love and criticism are welcome.
> 
> Disclaimer: Not mine, never gonna be. I just play with 'em.


End file.
